My Little Universe: Season 7

by EquestrianKirin

Tale-Wind

"... I just wish we can get out of here so I can ask her."

"Don't worry, we'll find a way out of here."

…….

Sapphire's future vision sure had been a little more on point since letting Ruby go off on her own. just a day or so ago, she would still be freaking out and unable to work out anything, but with her nerves now a little bit more lax, she had better time getting into it with some new visions in mind. At least these visions weren't as spazzed out as before ...

*SPLAT*
And of course, the crew had some bonding to do in a snowball fight. with the snow now a plenty, they got themselves in the middle of some war of their own, Sapphire off on one side with Lapis, Jasper, Diopside, and Applejack, and the other side being Steven, Bismuth, Connie, and Rarity. At the point, only AJ and Rarity really had time to go in and check on the Crystal Gems as of late, namely for the fact the others were off doing their own hunt for the items by the map (Pinkie with Somnambula, Fluttershy with Meadowbrook, Rainbow with Flash Magnus, and Twilight dealing with the book).

"HAH, got her!" Bismuth called. Seemed even Sapphire with her visions can't dodge all hits. This did get her back into the game though, just in time to see Jasper through a mighty snow boulder at the opposing fort. Not strong enough to get passed Bismuth's mighty stronghold.

"Sapphire, think you can give us a restock? The enemy's closing in," Jasper said, though this was less serious in tone.

"Gotcha covered," Applejack said, already getting at least three snowballs handled. One sharp throw by Connie was accurate enough to hit the mare's hat off, making her jump. AJ responded with a rapid-fire, back kicks to the snowballs, launching them right to the fort, almost hitting her right there. Connie dodged the hit, but they were still laughing and having fun. For this match, there was one more hit to seal the deal.

"INCOMING!" Bismuth shouted, her hands now shovels, and she launched a avalanche of snow right down onto the opposing team, burying them all in a heap of snow. Defeated in one quick swoop, but everyone was laughing in the end of it. How long had it been since they had a good snowball fight like that?

"Hah, that's that," said Bismuth, "Fun doing Bismuth with -"

"SNEAK ATTACK!" and all of a sudden, they were found in the open by two other, secret players to the game. A huge barrage of snowballs raining down hard from cooperation of two multi-versal friends. Launching out from their hidden fort by the shrubs, the exposed team was suddenly exposed to Hoppy and Hopper. The two were given a chance to visit thanks to Sapphire, and thanks to this sudden attack, all players were now hit and out of the game.

"Dang it, forgot about you two! Where were you guys?" Diopside asked, shaking some snow out of her hair.

"Working a little something called a "springtrap technique". Worked well for a first try," Hoppy said smugly. Hopper went over to Sapphire, who was still getting some snow off of her.

"THAT was a hoppin good session. We should do this more often when winter comes to the forest," Hopper said happily. Sapphire couldn't help but agree to this, seeing an image in her head with this game with more varied anthropomorphic animals.

"Sounds like a very fun plan, Hopper," Sapphire said with a soft grin. Hopper was psyched that she would think so, big smile and all. Bismuth picked up Hopper, the frog happy alongside her.

"You two just make up that technique on the spot?" Jasper asked.

"Eh, maybe," Hopper said, giggling. Being up on Bismuth's shoulders though left Hopper a little bit exposed to the cold wind, which gave the frog a good amount of shivering. Even after bundling up, she still wasn't as bundled as she should be when compared to Hoppy, who didn't change at all since she already had a fur coat on over her clothes.

"Oh dear, you still cold, Hopper?" Rarity asked.

"Nope, not me!" Hopper said with a big smile on her face … just as her skin began to turn blue. "... Maybe a little."

Rarity didn't need any more convincing, and with some magical influence, lifted off her own scarf, and wrapped it around Hopper's neck. It was a small thing, but like Hoppy, she too had her own coat of fur on, so it wasn't as bad in comparison to Hopper, who's skin was weaker than even Connie or Steven when you think about it. Hopper did feel very cozy with the scarf.

"So soft," Hopper said, amazed and feeling the scarf around her neck.

"Think nothing of it. I'd hate to see you catch a nasty cold," Rarity replied, as Bismuth placed Hopper back down by Hoppy. Steven stood aside with a smile, just happy to see some of the nicer times again, considering all the trouble already. It may not be everyone, but it's more than zero.

"Hey, sport, you have fun?" Applejack asked, trotting over to him.

"Yeah, I'm just happy things are starting to return to normal, and everyone's feeling better again. just wish I knew where the others are," Steven replied.

"Whelp, soon as we find em, we'll mend the fences and we'll be good as gold! They can't be gone fer that much longer," AJ reassured. Steven smiled, but still felt it'll be a bit before they would get all the time back.

"You're probably right, AJ. Nice for Hoppy and Hopper to stop by our world for a bit," Steven said, seeing Hoppy and Hopper. How often does one get the chance to hang out with a anthro rabbit and frog anyway? It was then Hopper went up towards him, hopping in her usual manor.

"Hey, Steven! I just had the a super idea: let's play fly-swatter together. We got plenty of players, and the perfect field, What do ya say?" Hopper asked, hoping for a good answer. But both human and pony hadn't ever heard of this game before. Steven actually shook his head.

"Oh, maybe in a bit. Twilight wants me to check in with her today," Steven answered. The excited frog stopped hopping altogether.

"Pleeease?" Hopper asked, giving Steven a begging look. Just one game was all she wanted, and Steven felt a shiver run through him.

"T-The cuteness. It's too much! So … cute … must … fight … AHH! OK, WE'LL PLAY," Steven said in surrender. Hopper beamed at the answer. Steven never realized how potent his own look could be.

Unfortunately for Hopper, she wasn't even going to get the chance to. She took a deep breath, but before she could even explain how the game fly-swatter even worked, they all heard the notable sound of a door opening up, and …

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

"Take cover!" Applejack called. Everyone quickly went out of the way of the portal door, with the single exception of Steven, who got slammed hard. He and the figure spun and spun like a wheel, until he found himself on his back, and Pinkie Pie on top of him, VERY psyched about something.

"StevenStevenStevenSteven! I GOT BIG NEWS, WANNA HEAR IT?!"

"... YES!" Steven said, that being enough to get Pinkie Pie off of him.

"What's up, Pinkie?" Connie asked. Pinkie took a deep breath.

"I was just finishing up my super epic adventure in southern equestrian, getting another piece of Somnambula with her glowpaz necklace, which I had to go into a pyramid with Connie II to get it, and on my way back, I was ready to drop off the thing when -" Pinkie only paused to make a HUGE breath, she was talking so fast.

"SLOW. DOWN," Lapis said. "Now, what's the big news?"
Pinkie Pie did calm down, and with a small *ahem*, took one step away from the door before something else suddenly bolted through, too fast to be seen! Applejack, Steven, and Hopper were left in a spin, with Hopper wearing AJ's hat, and the scarf wrapping around all three when they stopped spinning. The figure was gone for a bit, but Pinkie's whistle got the figure to rush around and skid to a stop, a wave of snow nearly getting a good amount of the group. Snow did cover Connie, Steven, Rarity, and Pinkie mostly, and Bismuth blocked some of the snow to keep it off the rest.

"I found Fulgurite! Hope it's cool!" Pinkie said, hoof out-stretched to reintroduce Fulgurite standing there.

"Long time no see. How're ya?" Fulgurite said, waving to them with a smile. It took them a moment, getting the snow off to actually see who was there, and she looked pretty chill with herself honestly.

"Fulgurite?" Sapphire said, the first to walk up to her.

"Sapphire, hi. You doing better since we last met, or what?" Fulgurite said with a smirk, patting Sapphire on the head.

"We should ask you the same question. I mean, technically, you were put in prison thanks to what happened," Lapis said. Fulgurite simply shrugged.

"Oh, that shtick. I stopped worrying about that the night I heard of it," Fulgurite said, hands casually behind her head, "She wanted to get out of the system, and she did with a bunch of her pals, one thing lead to another, and here we are. Yeah I got locked up for over five thousand years, but we've all been there."
They'd deny the fact, but another part of them knew better. Besides, they were captured at least twice by White Diamond, so there was that at least. They did wish they could say the same for both themselves and the others still gone.

"Did we?" Hopper asked, Hoppy just shrugging.

"The night you heard of it? But you've been gone for over a week!" retorted Steven. Fulgurite then smirked a smug grin.

"Eh, just escaped from queen Chrysalis."

… Ok then.

"Say wha?" AJ asked.

"Yep, it was nothing. Just a bit of low cunning, a speedy getaway, and … here I am."

"B-But, whoa, whoa, wait. You're talking about Queen Chrysalis, right? Queen of the Changelings? Tried to take over Canterlot?!" Rarity made clear. Fulgurite nodded her head, acting like it wasn't much of a deal.

"You got it. And apparently queen of exposition. Five minutes, nothing but blah blah blah, kept blabbering about her next "BIG PLAN" to take over Equestria. We might want to look into that, by the way, so you seen Twilight anywhere? Or did she high-tail it out too?"

… How was Fulgurite so chill about this?! Rarity and Applejack had some vague memories of the Changeling Queen themselves, this queen being the same Changeling that had, as Rarity said, invaded the heart of Canterlot during the great wedding of Cadance and Shining Armor. What was she planning to do this time?

"No, she's still here, but … oh how do I put this? …" suddenly, Rarity was inches from Fulgurite's face. "HOW IN EQUESTRIA DID CHANGELINGS END UP ON EARTH?!"

"How the heck should I know, they just jumped me and brought me back into Equestria. Can Changelings travel between worlds, or have a way to do that?"

"Nope. boy, we should tell Twilight about this," Steven suggested, troubled.

"Where is Twilight anyway? You still didn't answer," Fulgurite asked again.

"She's been busy looking over the map and the items for the pillars of Equestria. she's probably either at the Cutie Map, or in Canterlot."

"She won't be there."

A quick answer to hear, everyone looking to Sapphire.

"Won't be there?"

"No, neither will be the princesses. Or much of them for that matter. If you go there, you'll find nothing," Sapphire said, her future vision telling her the most likely outcome of just going off. With word of the Changelings, this raised some alarms.

"Oh boy, you don't think they'd got to em … did you?" AJ said.

"Nah, maybe it's the inter-species race coming up soon," Fulgurite said.

"The what now?"

Leave it to Fulgurite to know something about some sort of race, being the racer she was. She told them about the Autumn Drive, and now here was this Inter-Species race (go figure). Pinkie Pie had that covered for them, popping up behind Fulgurite and pulling something from her mane, which looked like an invitation from Celestia herself.

"We got this on the way here, straight from Celestia! Well, maybe not straight from Celestia, more like from Celestia, to her guard, to Derpy, and then to me, but we still got invited as guests for the race! And the prize is … NETITUS!"

Convenient, but amazing to note.

"Netitus? That's the fireproof shield belonging to Flash Magnus! You sure that's the prize?" Lapis asked.

"Sure as pie! And believe me, I know my pies," Pinkie said. More proof came up when Steven opened up the invitation, showing the colorful invite, with the Netitus itself being a cover for the letter itself. It also showed some racers in the form of a griffin, dragon, pony, and some others going towards a finish line.

"So, you think the others are gonna be at this race?" asked Hoppy.

"It's a high possibility," Sapphire figured. No doubt in her mind that someone like Twilight, at the least, would go for the opportunity to see numerous races in one place for study's sake. Rainbow would probably be going there for the sake of Netitus, and the chance to win a big race like this. Everyone else … well, it's a maybe. Steven then got an idea going in his own head.

"Let's check it out! All different races in one place? We can find out so much there! Their favorite hobbies, what's their favorite ways to race, and most importantly, we can get the Netitus!" Steven decided.

"And more MORE importantly, we can check join in on the race, and cheer for our favorite racers like all fans!" Pinkie added, already holding a Rainbow Dash flag in her hoof.

"If you're up for it, I won't deny it," Sapphire said.

"YES!" Steven, Hopper, and Pinkie beamed.

"Well what're we waiting for? Let's get us goin," AJ decided, getting out her Portal key to go. They would go off, but then Steven got an idea.

"Oh, wait a minute. Maybe we can invite Ruby along. I know she wants to be a cowgirl, but maybe she can join us for one more hurrah?"

"If you can find her," said Hoppy.

"Okay, I won't be long. Order some peanuts for me when I get back!" Steven said, as he went off to find Ruby. This was a bit of a nice gesture, and it was the least Steven could do before they would just go off. Even if Lapis Lazuli was a little bit perplexed about it.

…….

"Hmm … okay. What do we have to work with here?"

Farther away from the others, Ruby had some other matters to attend to. As everyone else was doing other things, the lonesome lasso rider was taking some mental notes on the Warp Pad in front of her. It was quite the peculiar design: a flatten surface, patterns along the body, though it sure didn't look too easy to work out. what made the item tick? Ruby scratched her head, this objective not as simple as brought on to be. As she was working with the object, she began to hear someone closing in on her, making her turn around and brace for the opponent, just to find Steven.

"Steven? What're you doing here?" Ruby asked, sounding a little suspicious. Steven though shook his head.

"Stop freaking out, Thorax, it's me," Steven said. He closed one of his eyes, and upon reopening it, he showed his eye to be that of a Changeling, and not a human. This eased Ruby a little bit as Steven changed his eye back.

"S-Sorry, it's sometimes hard to tell when you're in disguise," Ruby said, rubbing her arm.

"Quit complaining," Steven instructed, "Now listen. The group is about to go back in Equestria. Do you have your pieces yet, or do I have to do your work again?"
Ruby felt a shiver, but lucky for her, she had the pieces ready, and showed a fairly good amount of them in her hands. A good twenty pieces of them, all genuine from other distant Warp Pads she'd gone to over the last few days. Steven took the pieces and got them in his pockets.

"It's wasn't easy finding those pieces. I guess I should thank that Peridot for coming with me with her portal key to that "Communication tower"," Ruby said.

"So she is a gullible rock," sighed Steven, biting into one of them to be sure they were genuine.

"I guess so. She looked … very giddy," Ruby said. The very thought of it began to make her mouth water a bit, but Steven slapped her with his hand to snap her back to reality.

"Get a hold of yourself, you know how you get with love around you."

"S-sorry, it just comes out," Ruby said, blushing a little bit.

"You and every other Changeling. Look, all you have to do is find the pieces to these Warp Pads. I got the hard part. So unless you wanna do it, I suggest you wake up and smell the dandelions, or we're both gonna starve!" Steven even grabbed Ruby by the shoulders and shook her so the message was more focused on.

"Ok, ok, I promise!" Ruby said. Steven released her, and he started to walk on back with the pieces in his pockets. Ruby was left a little fazed, but unhurt.

"Now I told them I was gonna get you, so try to act how Ruby would act, ok?" Steven ordered. Ruby saluted him, and Steven walked away. Ruby was lucky she didn't get too hurt from this.

"What a grouch. Gheesh," Ruby thought. Thought, she would be dead if she said it aloud.

~~~~~~

A quick hop from one world to another got the group to the right location. With Ruby in toe, she and much of the others had arrived along the grounds of what would be the race itself. Much of the area itself was wide open, slightly cold due to winter and all, but shown to have quite a crowd around of numerous species. Varying pony races, a few lesser Dragons, a couple of griffins, a few anthro animals from Klugetown, and even a few newer ones (they even saw a deer or two going about) which Hoppy and Hopper took some notice to. Even in winter, not too much snow was present in the area, which itself was ironic because the area nearby was actually covered in water. It wasn't the same case as the Badlands, sure.
The group themselves were at the front entrance to the main racing grounds, which was less like a sporting event, and more like an area for either a campout, or an arrangement to watch fireworks. Tents of varying sizes were set up all over the place, suggesting one of two things: either the actual race won't be for a while longer, or these tents were pre-planned for the audience's comfort.
As for their friends, it took some time to actually locate them, but they did eventually figure out where they were further off down the path, seeing the group of ponies with their own accommodations. Twilight was present, and already chatting with what looked to be a pronghorn deer. Rainbow Dash was also there, practicing some wing-lifts, and Fluttershy too was present for the big race, handling encouragement in her usual quiet manor. Peridot and Amethyst, the only two Gem in the group, also was there and awaiting the events to start. They also note the Meadowbrook healer's mask over by her hooves, indicating she too had gotten her own item for the pillars too.

This meant only Netitus remained.

The deer trotted off by the time the others had arrived, Twilight seemingly very excited from her conversation with the pronghorn.

"Hey guys," said Steven, waving and getting their attention.

"There you are!" Rainbow said, already airborne, "So you guys got the news too?"

"Yep, we did. How fitting of the Netitus to be in a race for you, Rainbow. Guess the map might have some of Sapphire's ability," Jasper figured.

"I KNOW! I got this race in the bag," Rainbow Dash said, more than confident that they would get that Netitus. She could already see herself using it like Flash Magnus before her.

"You mean we got this," Fulgurite said, sliding up to Rainbow and nudging her, "I'm not missing this race for anything! Racing with you all is fun, but what chance can I get to race with so many species at once?"

"According to the poster, once every five years," Rarity said, reading it out for them, "Though, that's not so bad to Gems, I bet."

"Well, either way, it's good to have multiple friends in the race. Fulgurite, Rainbow, do your best," said Steven, giving them thumbs up. During this chat, Jasper sat down over by Fluttershy, seeing the mask by her.

"So, you got your item too, huh?"

"Oh, yeah I did. I had to lure those nasty Flash Bees away from the shores of the bog. Those mean bees were hurting all sorts of alligators, beavers, otters, and ducks," Fluttershy said. Jasper felt a slight cringe coming on at the mention of the Flash Bees. She personally never liked anything that resembled a thundercloud. Fluttershy didn't like them much either, and as she was a animal lover, THAT was very hard to say for her. Least she can rest happy knowing the flash Bees won't harm anyone there.

"Cattail did say he would've just given it to you," reminded Peridot.

"I know, but it's still a nice thing to do for those animals," Fluttershy replied.
It was then that they began to hear something else up in the sky. Despite being in the world of magic and ponies, the sound of jet engines started to fill the air. Looking up, they soon saw the indistinguishable sign of the Wonderbolts flying on in from the north, taking a landing off in another spot of the racing grounds. This sure got Rainbow Dash excited.

"The Wonderbolts are here too?" Rainbow gasped, her wings fluttering fast as hummingbird wings.

"Well I guess, since the princesses are here to observe too," Twilight figured. Rainbow just couldn't help herself, and she was already flying off to go and see them. OH it'd been too long since she'd seen her childhood heroes. Some couldn't help but either chuckle or get confused.

"Who's the Wonderbolts?" Hoppy asked, leaning towards Amethyst for some answers.

"It's Equestria's Aerial team. Rainbow Dash has been a fan of them for years," Amethyst replied. Outside of Daring Do, they were her greatest inspiration. Hoppy began to think about this Wonderbolt group. She wasn't sure if aerial team meant either military force or performers, though if it was enough for princesses to bring along, then it oughta be worth something.

"I'll join you in a bit, I'll just see Rainbow before she goes too over it," Lapis chuckled, before flying off to join Rainbow Dash.

…….

In another part of the area, Rainbow Dash and Lapis Lazuli found where the Wonderbolts had gone to, nearby Celestia and Luna, who had their own tent as well. One would expect better place of stay, but the princesses didn't mind this all that much. So long as they get to go and handle the sun and moon duties, they're fine with wherever they get to rest. The Pegasus and gem were quick to take notice from the Wonderbolts, Spitfire herself removing her goggles to see Rainbow face to face.

"Hey, long time no see, RD," said Spitfire, playfully nudging Rainbow Dash.

"Great to see you too, Spitfire! Oh, you going to race too?" Rainbow asked, very excited for the answer. If she was racing again, Rainbow could give Spitfire a good show of her own speed over the years, but the leading wonderbolt shook her head.

"As fun as it is, not this time. I'm just here to direct the event. No doubt you're gonna race, am I right?" Spitfire replied, though admittedly she too would love to go and give this race a go if she could.

"Hope you can keep an eye on me, because I've been getting faster by the day," Rainbow gloated, flying circles in the air to show her point. She went very fast, but not enough to make a tornado in front of Spitfire (as impressive as that would be).

"Impressive. Actually, glad I caught ya. Think you can do me one little favor?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow landed in front of her, surprised, but willing as the element of loyalty she was.

"Ready, willing, and able mam," Rainbow said, giving a hoofed salute to the head mare.

And the exact favor came up in the sky above them. As with Rainbow's rainbow path in her flight, and the thunderclouds in the Wonderbolts, whoever was flying now was leaving a electric lightning trail behind her. A unmistakable sign of one particular Pegasus. As for said Pegasus, she saw the crowd below her, and decided to go in for a landing. Lapis actually had to jump aside to let the pony land on the ground, the Pegasus not seemingly caring much for her.
It's soon revealed to be a light turquoise mare, one with strong amber mane and tail with eyes to match. What truly stood her out of the crowd though was her Cutie Mark, being that of a lightning bolt with three stars. They knew immediately who this Pegasus was the second she landed.

"Lightning Dust?"

"HEY, if it isn't left wing pony," said the seemingly cocky mare, giving Rainbow Dash a noogie to the head. Rainbow usually wouldn't mind it, but she was resentful this time, and fixed her mane.

"See you haven't changed," muttered Rainbow, "Haven't seen you since the Wonderbolt Academy."

"Yeah, yeah, but this best flyer's been doing some good wing-ups and laps since then. So, how's that "dream" of being a Wonderbolt coming along? Heard somepony's been slacking."

"NO! I've just been a bit busy, that's all," retorted Rainbow.

"Busy napping in a tree?" Lightning remarked smugly.

"Hey, you try to squeeze in Wonderbolt practice AND keeping track of two worlds at once! Like you would know anyway," Rainbow snapped. Lightning Dust snorted in the mare's face like a bull.

"The only thing I know is that this race has already won. See you in my cloud trail!" and with that final remark, Lightning dust bolted right off out of sight, leaving them in a cloud of dust. Clearly this reckless pony hadn't changed all that much.

"Who's that?" Lapis asked. Rainbow groaned.

"Lightning Dust. she and I used to be in the Wonderbolt Academy together as wing ponies," Rainbow explained.

"But," added Spitfire, "I sent her packing. She'd rather pull of all the stunts in the book rather than watch what she was doing."
Lapis did remember them mentioning something about the Wonderbolt Academy in record, though seeing a tidbit of it herself, she could see why Lightning would be kicked out. any Wonderbolt more on herself than on others' safety is a threat all in itself. The least Lightning Dust could do was not crash into someone when landing!

"So … the "little favor"?" Rainbow assumed. Spitfire just nodded.

"Ever since I got here she's been talking up about herself, railing up the competition. And between you and me," and Spitfire said this in a whisper, "I think she might try something, if you get my drift."

"Say no more, I'll make sure she's in line," Rainbow promised, again giving a salute. Spitfire smiled.

"Knew I could count on you."

…….

"So, this is the only event involving every race?" asked Bismuth. Twilight checked the event in a conveniently knowledgeable book.

'Well technically, no, but it is the one most races would actually come in to do. Each race is represented in the course, much like how they are in the Equestria Games."

"What I wanna know is how they got Netitus for a prize," wondered Diopside, "I'm not an expert on artifacts, but I'm pretty sure that's not easy to get."

"I'm not sure, but what I do know is that we better win this race if we want Netitus. I don't think anyone else will give that up anytime soon," Twilight warned.

"Don't sweat it, with me and Rainbow Dash in the race, we should be fine. What kind of competition do we have in here anyway - EEE!" the sudden yelp came from one other competitor of the race, a cold talon touching Fulgurite's back. Looking over, they soon saw sight of a Griffon racer. This one in particular is truly one built for speed: the bird half that of a falcon, and the lower body of a cheetah.

"Need any other answers just call," said the Griffon, a smile along his beak.

"And you are?" Sapphire asked.

"Name's lord Goldstone. I was just flying by, and can't help but hear two other racers joining me. Come to try your luck against the champion?" Goldstone said.

"Champion? You raced in this before?" asked Applejack.

"That's right. Not only that, my little pony, I've been the winner of these races three times over," Goldstone explained, grin across his beak. Three times? How old was this Griffon again? He sure didn't look middle-aged if these races take place every five years.

"WHOA, that's amazing … you don't even look that old," Pinkie said. not the reaction Goldstone anticipated. But what did catch Goldstone's eye was the gemstones on Fulgurite's knees.

"You one of those "Crystal Gems"? I heard Celestia and Luna talk about you," Goldstone asked.

"That's right, and I'm gonna make sure to win this thing for us," Fulgurite said with confidence. This just made Goldstone laugh.

"Determination. I like that. It'll actually give me some competition this year," Goldstone joked. Though, he felt confident in himself that he would win this time. After all, he did win three times, why would this one be any different? Goldstone went off on his way, but before he could fly off, he took a passing glance off away from the initial group, and found one of them had put herself off alone for a bit. Sapphire. And she didn't look too well with herself. Sure, she wasn't as sad as she was while Ruby disappeared, but that didn't mean guilt didn't hover over her head. Goldstone wouldn't bother with her if he didn't trip over some ice near her.

"Oi, you there, you making ice?" Goldstone asked. Sapphire glanced up towards him.

"Sorry," Sapphire simply replied. The Griffon got up to his paws and talons, keeping his balance well with his claws gripping the ice.

"How about you put up a warning sign next time? I nearly lost my feathers," Goldstone advised, checking himself to see if any feathers fell off of him. Sapphire simply nodded, but it was then that Goldstone began to see that more ice was developing along the ground, making him back up a bit.

"I know it's winter and all, but can't you control that thing? At this rate, you'll cover the entire grounds."

"I'm not meaning to. It'll calm down when I do …"

"When you do? What's your problem?" Goldstone asked, though he couldn't see her upset at all. She looked pretty fine to him. Sapphire just sighed.

"It's nothing. … I just over-reacted on my beloved, made everyone leave, and now she won't even fuse with me. … I wish I knew how to make it up to her," Sapphire summed up. Goldstone didn't really see any Ruby by the group at the moment, but all the same, past sins can mess someone up a little bit badly.

"Well, I don't know anything about relationships, but do us a favor and at least keep your ice off the race course," Goldstone advised, "This is a big race, and for Netitus, so we don't want any trouble from a Windigo-wannabe. Namely me. Ok?" and with the "advice" Goldstone flew off to get himself ready for the other racers.

"... The race …"

~~~~~~

Soon it was off to the race track. A bit different how much inter-species racers were actually within this race, but it made things interesting all and all. The announcer began to go on and call out the contenders as they came out.

"Alright, ladies and gentleman! Creatures of all ages! We got a full crowd and a mixed deck of a line-up this year, so let's meet our contenders! First up; Garble, a big Dragon with a even bigger bite, and a will to use it too. Be sorry for any sucker that gets in his way!"
Garble, the same Dragon that gave spike a run for his own money, marched out first, and announced himself with a good old fashioned firebreath to the sky, many the audience cheering (especially the dragons).

"Up next; Copper! Fast runner outta Klugetown, agile, clever, with ninja-reflexes!"
Out marched Copper, an anthropomorphic frilled lizard. And much like Garble before him, gave his own entrence by expanding his frill and giving a loud hiss, the crowd cheering for him as much as Garble before.

"Next up; Double Edge, natural long-runner from Everfree Forest, with speed to rival the fastest pegasi! Those thin legs can dash him through this race."
Double Edge, the pronghorn antelope talking to Twilight earlier, moved on passed Garble, not paying the ego dragon much mind, even after the dragon nearly bit into his horn. He was here to race, not to fight.

"Next we have Lightning Dust; skill and speed of a wonderbolt, and then some! She's been practicing since the academy, so we might have ourselves a speedster this year! Lot of power in those wings."
and Lightning Dust proved such when she rocketed out to the starting line, skidding between Garble and Double Edge, wings spread and enjoying the praise.

"Speaking of Wonderbolt Academy, next up; Rainbow Dash! Element of Loyalty, Wonderbolt Academy top-classer, and the Sonic Rainboom to top it off!"
THAT'S when the crowds went crazy, seeing Rainbow Dash flying in with her rainbow streak behind her, landing more carefully this time alongside Lightning, who personally wasn't enthused with the extra applause for her wing pony.

"Up next we have Lapis Lazuli; Diamond Court executive, but with plenty of agility and speed behind those sweet eyes!"
Lapis was glad to join up, though did blush on hearing the compliment, as she landed over by Rainbow Dash. It was a quick decision for Lapis to join up, plus it'd been a while since she tested her own speed in flying. She gave Rainbow a wink, the Pegasus smiling as the announcer continued.

"Next contender; Fulgurite. Speed Demon of the Gem race, she's been a veteran winner to many a race before this, let's see if experience can help her here!"
and out came Fulgurite, coming out like a blur, and making a on-the-dime stop right between Rainbow and Lapis. The gem was more than ready to get this thing going, as with the others.

"And finally we have Goldstone; he's been a veteran for these races three years running, and hasn't lost a single one. Let's see if he can hold it out this year!"
Goldstone's entrance was actually a bit more regal than the others. While they at least walked out, he was actually carried out by a pair of other griffons, like the lord he was, and placed down gently as he was drinking a milkshake. If that doesn't scream ego, then they didn't know what did. He gave the empty cup to one of the griffons before readying himself. The announcer continued going over the race as the others had some small talk.

"Hope you ponies are ready to lose," Garble growled mockingly.

"Fancy meeting you here, never paged you as a racer," Rainbow replied. Garble smirked.

"I just wanna see the look on your puny pony faces when I flatten you! Besides, I could use a new lava board."

Rainbow didn't even wanna know.

"Well, hope your ready to lose too, Garble," Rainbow said. She was gonna leave it at that, but Lightning Dust was a bit more cocky than Rainbow, and was right up at the dragon's personal space.

"Yeah, you'll be eating nothing but dust by the end of this race."

"You think you're better than me? I could just as easily eat you," Garble said, his muzzle pushing against Lightning Dust's face. The cocky Pegasus wasn't too troubled though, and flew off the ground, flying upside-down.

"Really? You're talking to the species that out-flew and out-smarted Dragon Lord Torch. That trophy over there? That's the very shield he used to do it. So I'd keep my muzzle shut if I were you."
Clearly Rainbow wasn't the only one who knew about Flash Magnus's legendary feat, and Garble snarled at her as she trotted away, smiling smugly as she almost whacked the side of Garble's face with her tail. Garble tried to think of something to say, but came up with nothing, and all he did was go passed Lapis and Rainbow in a huff.

"And you've been her partner before?" Lapis whispered to Rainbow.

"Eeyup. Just steer clear of her flight path," Rainbow advised. If she was even half as reckless and cocky as she was at the Wonderbolts Academy, then they'd better keep their distance, or otherwise get themselves knocked out of the sky due to a close wing clip.
Back in the stands, much of the group within this audience was keeping their hopes up for the racers to go off. Just like the racers, this was quite a mixed crowd as well, with the Crystal Gems and Mane six taking their own section of seats nearby eachother. While some like Hopper, Steven, and Pinkie couldn't wait to see this race get going, Ruby acted like she wasn't interested. At all. She found more interest off in the clouds than what's really going on.

"I can't believe we actually get to be witness to this!" said Twilight, very excited herself. "Our first inter-species racing event!"

"I know, I know, I about to burst with excitement!" Hopper said, "What about you Ruby?"

Ruby didn't answer. Guess wondering if this was gonna make her feel better was out of the question.

"Cheer up, Ruby. We're here, why not have some fun?" Steven insisted.

"Here, I gotcha," Pinkie Pie said, taking both sides of Ruby's mouth, and pulling them to make a big smile. Ruby got her face back to normal though, not really in the mood for this at all.

"Guys I'm fine! Just let me know when this ends," Ruby murmured. Peridot could tell this was very wrong for Ruby, and even seemed her own brand of depression had moved on to her. However, as the racers were moving off into position …

"Ok, racers, looks like we're about to - WAIT! WAIT! Looks like we have a latecomer! Let's see what this girl's got." Another racer began to come out to join this race. Her outfit dramatically changed to that of what looked to be a one-piece diving suit, with a pair of trackers' shoes. Her hair was also tied back in a ponytail so it wouldn't get more in her face, and seeing her as well left plenty of the teams in a bit of a surprise.

"Hello everyone. Nice day for a race."

"SAPPHIRE?!" gasped Peridot, actually jumping out from the stands and out to the field to meet up with her. Fulgurite and Lapis they could get, but Sapphire joining the race? Ruby pretended to ignore what was going on, but she was just as shocked to find Sapphire joining the race. not to mention flustered for seeing her in a diving suit (can you blame her if Sapphy looked hot in it?)

"Sapphire, what're you doing here?" asked Peridot.

"Racing."

"Well, yeah I can see that, but -"

"It'll be fine Peridot. Your main goal is to get the Netitus. As long as any of our friends win, it doesn't matter how many. Besides, I long for a nice run."

Unfortunately this caught the attention of Goldstone.

"What's this? You're competing in the race too? Come now, you can't even fly!" Goldstone said with that same smug grin.

"There're some things a Gem's just gotta do. Leave it to me," Sapphire said. This was a bit weird to hear from Sapphire, but another friend in this group to help get Netitus would help in their favor, so they didn't push it in any further. As Fulgurite got back in place, and Peridot back to the stands, Sapphire and Ruby both locked gazes for a brief moment. Sapphire kept herself to the race, as she needed to better focus, and Ruby … well, she was leaving a smoke cloud above her head. Some things don't need words.
As the racers readied up, Spitfire flew out to the racers, with a clipboard in her hoof.

"Alright, racers, listen up. As we have a mixed bag of grounded and flying racers, there's gonna be an added rule to the race. One: stay within the perimeter of the racetrack. That means no shortcuts or passes within the obstacles. Two: no physical sabotage to the other racers. … Garble, Lightning, I'm looking at you!"
Garble growled as Lightning rolled her eyes.
"And three: as we do have said mixed bag of racers this time, the air racers can not aid the ground racers, and visa-versa. Am I clear, or do I need to go over it again?"

"Crystal, mam!" Rainbow said, giving a wing salute to the wonderbolt leader. The others heard her loud and clear, but that didn't mean they all fancy it. They had a race to win, and that shouldn't be so restricted on how it was done.

"Good. On your marks!"

Up high above the race track, one other flyer was already taking off. This was no racer, but this bird was flying high up in the sky with what looked to be a glowing stone, easy to see from everyone all over the place. With the signal starting to come up, Lapis, Rainbow, Lightning, Sapphire, Fulgurite, Goldstone, Copper, Garble, and Double Edge all readied up, muscles tense and on a hair trigger the second the alarm goes. Lapis, Rainbow, and Fulgurite took a moment to glance over to Sapphire, who seemed just as determined to do this as the other racers were.
For this race though, there wasn't going to be an alarm sounding off, whistle, or anything like that. This was a older, traditional race, and as such, there was a different set of ideas in mind.

"The race starts when the stone hits the ground," called the announcer, just in case no one was getting it. When the other flyer was high enough, he then released said stone, it falling very far to the ground. Everyone in the stands and the track kept a close eye on it, waiting for the second it hits ground. There was no turning back now. When the stone did hit ground, like a firecracker, a loud crack echoed throughout the area.

Everyone tore out of the starting gate.

"And there off!" shouted the announcer, "Goldstone takes the lead as expected, and Lightning Dust takes a close second!"
The flying and ground racers were in pretty close at the first minute mark, but for the flyers, it was high up in the sky as Goldstone, Garble, Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash, and Lapis Lazuli flew skyward. Copper, Sapphire, Fulgurite, and Double Edge kept to their ground level in the forward run.
Up high in the sky though, the G-forces were harder to work with for the flying team, needing to aim up so high to get their first mark. For this part, Lapis Lazuli actually had no problem with this, keeping her eyes squinted and flying straight up, unlike the other racers who at least had to corkscrew their way upward. Being a Gem was surely helping out here.

"Where're they going?!" gasped Steven, seeing them flying high up as the runner kept rushing ahead.
The flying racers found the first mark up on a cloud, and as Lapis took ahead, all she had to do was tap it, and then she dove down. Same thing with Goldstone, Lightning Dust, and Rainbow Dash, and all four of them dove down fast, wings folded back into a falcon dive. This part Lightning Dust had better speed over, going into her own signature dive and aiming her hind legs first, wings back, and her body straight as an arrow.

"And Lightning Dust has taken the lead, Fulgurite coming in second behind! But she needs to slow down!" the announcer shouted.

"Yeah right," Lightning Dust thought. Suddenly, the Pegasus opened her wings at the very last second, her hoof just barely touching the ground as she rocketed off ahead, dust flying behind her. The other flyers rushed by the crowds, and moved in behind Lightning. All of a sudden, the runners no longer had the lead, and they were off together again.

"Hold on, how come you're in the lead?! We were miles ahead!" Fulgurite snapped, hearing the announcer.

"We got to our mark before you did, that's why!" shouted Lightning, "Step up your game if you can!"
The marks were more complicated than they thought. Fulgurite looked back, and they had just got their mark not too far ago. Working mathematics in this race, she now saw the full method of it.

"Dang mathematics," Fulgurite groaned.

With their first marks struck, now all the racers were a bit closer this time. Goldstone took the lead back from Lightning Dust after a short bit, and eventually Double Edge galloped into second place, leaving Lightning in the middle. In the back of the pack was Copper and Sapphire, the smaller Gem trying her absolute hardest as the reptilian kept just ahead of her.
Good thing they weren't too distracted: the first true obstacle started to present itself ahead of all the racers. The flyers may have gotten a natural lead, but when they struck in this one, they had to slow down, giving the ground runners a better advantage: a mile of twisting brambles.
Those amongst the crowd wondered how well they all would do, as some of the racers had to fly pretty high up to avoid the brambles. for the runners, this was a good start. Sapphire, Copper, Double Edge, and Fulgurite raced straight into the heap of twisting vines and rock-hard plants. The only flyer flying through said brambles was Garble, charging through the vines like a truck.

"Garble's charging through those vines like it's nothing! He's closing in on the - no! No wait! Double Edge is out-running the dragon!"
It was the deer's turn to shine: with his hooves small but sturdy, Double Edge was rushing and bolting around like a madman. Leaping, bolting, bounding, not even Fulgurite's natural speed could help her keep with Double Edge's agility through the forest. Garble's crashing may keep him straight, but not well enough to keep in front of the deer.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Garble yelled, keeping his head down so no brambles whack him in the eyes.

"It's like running through Everfree," Double Edge stated, making a bounding jump right through a hole in the brambles, exploding out of the first obstacle with barely a scratch. As for Garble, he slammed right into the thicket, tumbling to the ground below as the other racers rushed by him. He snarled, but was too tangled up to continue.

"And Garble's taken a fall, and left all tied up!"

"Thank Celestia," Rainbow thought, looking back for a brief moment as Garble struggled to keep up. This dragon was not gonna be bested by any ponies, not again. At the least, he was very far behind, but they need to be sure to keep it that way so Netitus wouldn't be some dragon's surfboard.
With the first obstacle done, it was onto the second piece of the course: a large water-covered field. This was when the flyers have the natural advantage again, as they kept above the fluff-covered reeds as the ground runners had to rush through it. Copper, being furthest up the ground runners at this point, saw his own way to even the playing field: his tail whipping the plants so it could form a sort of smoke bomb at the flyers. There was no time to get out of the way, Rainbow and Lightning both charging right into it. The golden fluff made it both hard to see and hard to breathe, both coughing a ton once exiting the cloud.

"Hey, cheater!" Lightning coughed.

"I'm not hurting you, am I? No physical sabotage," Copper noted, before his tail knocked another cloud into the air at the flying team. Even Lapis had some trouble with this, not able to see where she was flying, and all remaining flyers were slowed down tremendously. The crowds were seeing all of this themselves, and the group had a similar reaction.

"Hey, isn't that against the rules?!" Amethyst asked.

"He's not attacking them, he hasn't violated a rule yet," Spitfire replied, much to their dismay.
It would appear Copper found a loophole in the rule. But while it would seem the players had become a bit side-tracked, there was one exception to the rule …

"Having fun?"

"Huh?"
Goldstone! He had seen this coming a mile away and flew out of range of it all, keeping himself just ahead of Copper. It was his turn to get some well-deserved payback, as Goldstone gave a good flap of the wing, knocking up A TON of pollen, blinding those behind him. Copper of course got the worst of it, but by the time he got himself handled -

*BAM*

right into a tree. The only tree in the whole field, and he had to hit it. Whelp, that's another one out.

"Serve him right," Peridot said.

"Agreed," Rarity added.
With the distraction though, it seemed that Goldstone had a huge lead ahead of all of them, the Griffon feeling confident that he would keep in front of them for the whole race. But as he kept flying along, he took a look to the left, and notice something coming up from the sea of pollen. Something floating up from the field, and up to his flying level, no longer even running.

"I don't believe it!" shouted the announcer, "Sapphire has gone completely airborne! How is she even doing that?!"

"W-WHAT?" Goldstone gasped. No wings, no magic, and she was still flying alongside him! Sapphire did touch the tops of the flowers time to time to keep from slamming into the ground again, but she still was pretty much floating there, neck-and-neck with Goldstone.

"You were saying about my wings, Goldstone?" Sapphire said. Goldstone smirked.

"I admit, you got me there. Let's see how well you fly!" Goldstone said, and in a flap of the wing flew straight up. Good thing he did too, as they were approaching a tall, VERY steep hill. Now the land runners had a big problem, and shortly after reaching the hill, their speed dropped significantly, giving the flyers time to catch up. Double Edge had the worst of it, hardly able to get an actual footing with his small hooves, but Fulgurite made it look easy with her boots. Bismuth's cleat attachments were working wonders here, as she raced up like it was nothing.
On top of the hill was the secondary mark, and Fulgurite and Lightning Dust touched it pretty close to the same time, Goldstone being passed this point a good five seconds ago (which was big considering how fast they were going). But then came a surprise: although lagging behind a bit, Sapphire got completely airborne after the second mark, and was gliding off the hillside, her speed aided by gravity to bring her up forward.

"And by the second mark it's Goldstone in first, but Sapphire's flying in fast and passed out Rainbow Dash to take second place! We're down to the half-way point!"

"You hear that, Ruby? Sapphire's on a role! and she's not even rolling!" Pinkie said, extremely excited. Ruby was actually beginning to get a bit more invested in the race now that she heard that, and they could see the racers off further away, making the half-way loop back around.
for order: Goldstone, Sapphire, Rainbow Dash, Lapis, Fulgurite, Lightning Dust, and Double Edge.

Soon came up the third obstacle to this race, which appeared to be similar to before, except the entire field was submerged. Meaning the only clues to shallow and deep water was jutting logs and rocks. This meant that any pitfalls would be completely blinded to those running. For one flyer though, with the odds stacking against her, she had to make some risky moves to up her place back to first. Her first move was behind her with Double Edge, who was having enough trouble already in last place. All she had to do here was what Copper did earlier, and splashed a huge amount of water behind her. This quickly got Double Edge to lose his sight for a brief moment, making him clip his heels on some of the logs, and forcing him out. The flyers didn't have such problem, but for Lapis Lazuli, there was a bit of trouble waiting for her here.
And it was coming down fast!

"COMING THROUGH!"

Suddenly, Lapis felt something hit her back, and pushing her closer to the water surface! Looking back, there was Lightning Dust, hooves dangerously close to her gemstone, and Lightning used her as a sort of launching platform, forcing Lapis behind the speedy Pegasus, and almost knocking her into the water. Lightning Dust paid them no mind, and kept flying on, unaware how dangerously close Lapis Lazuli got to crashing. The crash however didn't happen because of Lightning dust, but from a branch that caught onto Lapis's foot, making her fall into the water completely in a nasty-looking skid and tumble!

"Lapis!" shouted Fulgurite.

"With a fall like that, she's out of the race for sure!" the announcer said. It sure seemed that way for those watching in the crowd, who waited for the announcer to call disqualification, but nothing happened.

"Ok, THAT'S sabotage! Why isn't he saying anything?" Hoppy asked. Peridot looked to the announcer, and looking very closely at his expression, he had an ever so slight smirk on his face.

"Wait. He's smiling?" Peridot wondered.

"I knew it, he got paid off!" Fluttershy concluded, both appalled and angry.
Out in the race, Fulgurite knew they had to keep going. Keep running. The now angry Gem looked up to Lightning Dust.

"Now who's a cheater?!" Fulgurite yelled. Lightning though didn't care.

"So what? So long as I beat that Rainbow Dash, I don't care," Lightning said, though mostly this was to herself. Rainbow Dash made her lose her status as a Wonderbolt back at the academy, she wasn't gonna lose to her here as well. Even if it did meant playing a bit dirty.
And it seemed she was getting closer to making that happen, closing the gap between herself and Rainbow Dash. The rainbow Pegasus knew what happened, and she wasn't about to let her do the same to her. Lightning dust flew up higher, and started to descend.

"Oh no you don't!" Rainbow quickly hit the brakes, just enough to keep her speed up, but missing Lightning Dust's dive. Rainbow gritted her teeth, as Lightning dust moved on ahead. She had the lead already, and now she was getting it back from Goldstone and Sapphire. Rainbow knew what was going to happen next if she didn't do something. So, she kept her place above Lightning Dust, rather than in front of her, keeping a better eye on her as they moved on from water, and onto land towards the next part of the race.
A waterside forest. THIS was when it got tricky. While the brambles weren't too tall, the forest was a lot more sturdy, and far easier to suddenly stop if one wasn't too careful. Goldstone, Lightning, Sapphire and Fulgurite wasted no time in getting in there, ground and air racers having the most trouble here. Rainbow Dash wasn't seen anywhere however.
The racers had to close in together to make this work, avoiding thick branches and sticks all the while avoiding crashing into eachother. With the cover of the forest, it was hard to say who was in what place, so this left the audience at their seats in anticipation. Sapphire had the best advantage now due to her smaller size, keeping up very close to Goldstone, and actually close to passing him up!

"Watch out, kids!" Goldstone warned, before he suddenly found an opening above them and took off skyward. The others didn't know what he meant by that until AFTER they got out of the forest.
A rocky wall, right in front of them!

"Pull up!" Sapphire yelled.

"WHOA!" Fulgurite almost skidded to a stop in order to better adjust herself, as the rest had to quickly rush upwards just to avoid slamming into the wall. Fulgurite had the most trouble, flighting gravity as she ran up the wall alongside Sapphire, as Lightning Dust zoomed up side by side as they neared the third mark. It was here Lightning Dust started to bump Fulgurite in the side, making her start to lose her focus and slip from the wall

"What're you doing, stop it!"

"It's called handicapping. Ever heard of it?!" And with that remark, Lightning Dust whacked Fulgurite right in the face with her wing, sending her back a bit before reaching the top, tapping the third mark. Rainbow Dash almost ended up hitting the wall itself because of that!
The order now: Goldstone, Lightning Dust, Fulgurite, and Sapphire.
Lightning dust felt good with herself, seeing the racers behind her and only one in front. The plateau they had to clime up gave Sapphire a huge leap of gliding time to regain her speed from all this sabotage from Lightning Dust. But then, as she looked, something was missing.

"Wait. Rainbow Dash, where -"

"HIYAA!" Bursting out of the sky, suddenly Rainbow Dash appeared, angry as ever for seeing Lightning do all of this, and gave the Pegasus a falcon strike right on her back! This move sent both flyers careening own towards the hard earth below. They both landed pretty hard, Rainbow making sure that Lightning dust was on the ground.

"And they're both down! Looks like two more are out of this race folks!" the announcer said, slightly reluctant for seeing Lightning Dust fall like that. Rainbow's friends were more happy than ever seeing karma catch up to Lightning Dust. The only thing that hurt more than her body was her pride, and Rainbow made sure she stayed down this time.

"You know this means you're out too, right?" Lightning Dust groaned, looking up at Rainbow. Lightning knew she was too hurt to keep up with the racers even if she wanted to, but Rainbow Dash wasn't too bothered by the idea of getting disqualified.

"I got enough of my pride to spare for one race," Rainbow Dash replied. The Pegasus standing looked up back to the remaining flying racers, Sapphire looking down to the situation. Rainbow gave the Gem a salute to Sapphire, who gave one back before she focused her own landing gear coming up.

"A true Wonderbolt," Spitfire said with a smile. It does take some guts to do that, even if it was against a rigged system. Ruby was off her seat now, looking over the bars at the race unfolding before them.

The order: Goldstone and Sapphire. … For so it first appeared.

"UNBELIEVABLE! Lapis Lazuli's back in the race! Just in time to reach the final part!" the announcer called, as shocked as everyone else was. She was very far behind, just making over the plateau, and doing a fast-charged dive towards the remaining racers in front, but she was indeed back in the race after her seemingly race-stopping tumble. Unlike Garble, Chopper, and Double Edge, this Gem was willing to guarantee the win of the Netitus. Even if so far behind, keeping her body streamline she was gaining speed until she was right by Sapphire, Goldstone not too far ahead.

"Where's Rainbow?!

"Forfeited," Sapphire simply said. Goldstone looked back.

"Not bad you two. Even with that sabotager you still kept up with me! Watch the final part!" Goldstone warned.
And Sapphire already knew what was coming up next. The fourth part before the final stretch: the giants' farmland. Celestia warned them about this part in particular, and how dangerous it was to go through here for most racers, flyers and runners alike. And that was shown immediately as they began to go through. For Lapis and Goldstone, they had the issue of cold biting winds coming at them, and Sapphire had a similar problem, and the ground itself being a bit more slippery due to ice forming here. Sapphire and Goldstone found a way to fix the wind problem in the form of a large cement water ditch, grates lining the top to let light in.

"What's the big deal? not much different from the forest and brambles!" Lapis asked.

"Flying straight is easy, it's the turns that'll get you!"
And just as he said that, Lapis and Sapphire almost crashed into a corner wall as Goldstone bolted off right. Now they could see how hard this was. At least with the brambles and forest section, they could keep rushing forward, only jumping around when need be. Here, they had to not only keep their speed up, but avoid just slamming into any of the walls They couldn't fly above this part either thanks to the grates, so they all had to suffer through this part. Only Goldstone himself had little trouble: with four legs and two wings, he both flew and ran through the twists and turns with relative ease, leaving both Sapphire and Lapis behind bit by bit.
Then they got to the long hall. A long path open at the top, and at the very end a vent opening. Goldstone knew this was his time to go, and he flew up high out of there. Lapis and Sapphire were both a bit behind at this point, but as Sapphire wanted to make it, Lapis had other ideas.

"Sapphire. You take this one!"

"What? Lapis!"

"Sapphire, I heard what you said to Goldstone earlier, I know she doesn't hate you! We all believe in you, Sapphire, and I know Ruby does too! Do it for her, just like you've done for everyone else."

This was more to her than just getting the Netitus for Rainbow. This was to make up for her mistake. A small tear went down Lapis's face, and before Sapphire could say anything else, Lapis flew up, and skidded to a complete stop, leaving Sapphire to run on ahead. This was to be her victory, one way or another.
Goldstone didn't understand what was going on, but one thing he did see was Sapphire continuing to run forward towards the vent.

"Hey kid! You can't get through that way!" Goldstone warned. Sapphire though still was comprehending what Lapis had said. She had felt so torn up for the longest time, but the ones that had helped her through this was those closest to her. It was still her fault that many of them ran, but even when exposed of her faults, they never truly left her. She may have left them, but they never left her.

Sapphire had to win this. Courage at its peak, Sapphire charged blindly onto the unknown, and into the vent. The world grew very dark the second she did so, walls and ceiling leaving little to maneuver for her. It was all a straight line, barely curving, but even then Sapphire was not stopping. There was a reason no one would dare try to go through this way.

And she knew exactly what it was: the tunnel was barred up! Sapphire would try to stop, but there was no turning back now, so she tried a very risky approach to it. she brought her hand out, her gemstone in front of her, and then …

*POOF*

The bars were too strong for her, and her gemstone went flying through at light speed. The explosion made it look like a bomb had gone off in there! This left the entire crowd gasping, think she may have killed herself going through.
Her gemstone though, as it bounced at least three times, started to reform itself in the next tunnel, and Sapphire, albeit VERY rushed, was back again! She still looked the same as before, only without her headband holding her hair back, but Sapphire didn't care for that right now as she charged through the next tunnel in the vent. This one lasted longer, giving Sapphire even more speed to work with, and by the time she reached the other end of the tunnel, she was no longer running. She was flying.

"There she is! She's in the lead!" Hoppy shouted.

"GO SAPPHIRE!" shouted Pinkie Pie. Ruby couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Sapphire barrel through like that.

Onto the final stretch. Now, the main idea would be for the racers to go around the upcoming lake to get to the finish line, but Sapphire's mind was on the straight and narrow. She began running across the water!
It felt amazing: rushing along the surface, and moving at such a speed to rival Fulgurite at her highest, barely making impact on the surface of the water, and seeing her friends waiting for her right in front. All of this felt too good to be true.
And it was. Sapphire suddenly felt like something was missing here. Or rather, someone was missing, as she began to look around for the missing person. Her gaze went skyward, and soon she found him: Goldstone was rushing down from the sky in a falcon dive right to the water!
And he was gaining fast! So fast in fact, he left his own splashes and waves behind him without even touching the water! Sapphire will not have it, and gaining flight, she began to gain as much speed as she could. she was flying sure, but she still had her feet running off behind her to go even faster. Goldstone soon caught up with her, and it went down to the final push. Neck-and-neck, side-by-side.

"Holy hop!" Hopper gasped, seeing their speed through her power device. And it was going CRAZY!

"7000. 8000. 10,000! Numbers have no meaning!" Hopper shouted, before her machine actually broke!
Sapphire and Goldstone were just yards away from the finish line, a race between the fastest flyer and fastest runner, both sides determined more than anything to win this race. They were so close. Sapphire closed her eye, only focused on running forward. Go forward. Don't slow down. Every force of G, wind, and water fighting her the entire way.

And then they made it over the finish line. It was a blur so quick, the announcer couldn't make out who actually won it. Sapphire and Goldstone finally slowed down and stopped altogether, waiting to hear what the announcer had to say, as the rest of the racers slowly made their way back to the main area. The announcer had to take a minute to replay the scene in his mind and slow it down a bit. So, the unicorn brought up the screen for him to see, showing the scene in slow-motion … and who won by the end?

…….

"IT'S GOLDSTONE!"

"G … Goldstone? … I lost …" Sapphire was SO CLOSE. Even in the huge ring of the applauding crowd, even with the multiple people on their side trying to get it, even after EVERYTHING, they still didn't get Netitus. Goldstone was proudly given Netitus for his reward, the Griffon holding the shield of history with pride, but his eyes still befell onto Sapphire, who now was on the ground. Despite being ahead for the whole race, he wasn't completely oblivious to what happened around him. He saw her friend Rainbow forfeit the race to stop Lightning Dust, and he saw Lapis give up so Sapphire could win it for them all. So, after a bit, Goldstone went over to Sapphire …

And placed the Netitus in front of her.

"Here, keep it," Goldstone said.

"You mean it?"

"Yeah; you gave me the most exciting race I've had in years. That and I've already won three of these things, knowing I won four's good enough for me. I don't need Netitus to prove it," Goldstone said, acting all smug about it. The praise for being the champion was more than enough for the Griffon, and in the end Sapphire got her prize after all. It was surely their lucky day.

They got everything they needed.

…….

If only things were as good for the real Steven and Ruby.

The prisonhold the two were stuck in wasn't anything too special, or comfortable. With some magic on the changeling's part, there was a small sort of barrier just outside of their cell to keep them in there. sure, Steven can go by no problem, but two things kept him still: the fact he can't use his abilities within the palace, and Ruby wasn't able to venture out without the spell to keep her body in tact. The changelings didn't really keep too much of an eye on them because of this, though a few did stop to check on them time to time.

The type of cell was a bit more unorthodox: a hole downward into a chamber, rather than being walked into. the walls were very steep, and the main light was from a hole above. Steven had been trying to reach the exit as best he could, finding a slight foothold on the rocks around the cell, and at this point inches from the top.

"Come on, almost got it," Steven groaned, reaching out as far as he could. His fingers were just about to touch the edge, when one of the Changeling guards peered in, and bit off the root he was holding onto. In a small yelp, he fell right back to the ground, only met with snickers from the Changelings above.

"Give it up, starboy, you're not going anywhere anytime soon," the guard said.

"Can't you at least give us something? A cup of water? Some blankets, maybe a movie to pass the time?" Steven asked.

"What is this, a hotel?" the guard spat, "You're not here for a visit, you're here as a prisoner. Or do we need to drop you both in the hole again?"

"What about some food? It's been days, and I'm starving. I'm sure Chrysalis wouldn't like a skeleton in her cell, right?" Steven retorted. As if on cue, Steven's stomach growled good and loud. Both guards glanced to one another.

"You're a rock aren't you? Eat some sand or something, there's tons of it by your feet," retorted the changeling. Steven looked down to the sand himself, looking more like dust.

"But I can't eat sand, I gave up on it when I was five!"

"UGH, fine. But ONLY because Chrysalis wants you alive when she gets back. Come on, let's find some grub," the guard decided, and both Changelings went off to find something for him to eat. They'd eat him right then and now if Chrysalis gave them the word. Ruby barely even noticed all of this happening, just sitting on a tall rock over by a corner of the cell, seeing little to nothing of the place. Steven looked over to her.

"Don't worry, Ruby, soon as we're out of here you can go back to being the free, rootin-tootin loner cowgirl just like you wanted. You'll be free in the plains before you know it," Steven promised. Ruby … well …

"... It's … not true."

"Huh?"

"All that stuff I sang about at the campfire … It's not true." when ruby turned to Steven, the Gem looked ready to cry, biting her lip and a blush on her face. It was the guiltiest of all guilt faces.

"W-WHAT?!" Steven gasped. Ruby turned herself around.

"I mean, I did have a lot of fun when we got here. I loved it! But … I … the whole time. I kept thinking about how much more fun I would have if I were … with her." Ruby paused to look at her free hand, one NOT with a Gemstone on it. "Sapphire was always there with me. I'd feel her smile … just like it was mine. … It's so lonely now."

Ruby groaned, before sliding off of her rock, landing on her square head.

"That's lame, right?!" she griped, "I left Earth to be my own Gem, but here I am thinking about "what'd she like"! "What she want"! All. The time." she fell to her side, arms crossed, and simply said "Turns out. I'm no good at not needin nobody."

Steven actually gave a small, yet gentle smile.

"Ruby, no it's not. You're still the awesome ruby who did all that stuff, even if you're thinking of someone else. Here, take a look at Flint. Flint's been someone who has been on his own, as this strong, self-reliant guy with his own schedule. But, truth is, he loves someone too. In fact, he thinks more about everyone else than he ever does for himself," Steven explained. Ruby paused, and thought it over. He may have been a bit selfish in some goals, maybe, but he still has his mind set on others in their reactions, and how to handle them.
A particular example that came to mind was with Stevonnie: the first true hybrid fusion. sure, Garnet and Flint were on the wrong foot with it all, but Flint never said anything about what he would get out of it. All of his worries were on Steven and Connie, and not on himself. Even if he wont admit it …

"... Well … if I'm making my own decisions. Then, I'll decide I want to be with Sapphire," Ruby decided. Sapphire was the best thing that could ever happen to her, and if she could chose to be with her from here to the end of time, then that would be the case.

"... I just wish we can get out of here so I can ask her," Ruby sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way out of here," Steven reassured.

Author's Note:

AAAAND we're back to long chapters again. Seriously, this whole season's the biggest i got for MLU, extra season or no. X3

Well anyway, welcome back Fulgurite everybody ^^

Comments

[jen_lee_hattie]

Hoppy began to think about this Wonderbolt group. She wasn't sure if aerial team meant either military force or performers

You and a lot of the fandom.

[EquestrianKirin]

9957501
X3

[jen_lee_hattie]

Hoppy began to think about this Wonderbolt group. She wasn't sure if aerial team meant either military force or performers

You and a lot of the fandom.

"7000. 8000. 10,000! Numbers have no meaning!" Hopper shouted, before her machine actually broke! Sapphire and Goldstone were just yards away from the finish line, a race between the fastest flyer and fastest runner, both sides determined more than anything to win this race. They were so close. Sapphire closed her eye, only focused on running forward. Go forward. Don't slow down. Every force of G, wind, and water fighting her the entire way.

IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!(please tell someone gets this almost overuse meme.)